Should employees be able to work from home?

Earlier this week we asked our Facebook fans to answer the following question; "Internet giant Yahoo! surprised quite a few people last week when an internal memo put an end to working from home for its employees. Do you think, when possible, working from home is a good idea? Why or why not?" And told them their responses may...

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By Julia KazarDodge City Daily Globe

Dodge City Daily Globe - Dodge City, KS

By Julia KazarDodge City Daily Globe

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 6:00 AM

By Julia KazarDodge City Daily Globe

Posted Mar. 8, 2013 at 6:00 AM

DODGE CITY

Earlier this week we asked our Facebook fans to answer the following question; "Internet giant Yahoo! surprised quite a few people last week when an internal memo put an end to working from home for its employees. Do you think, when possible, working from home is a good idea? Why or why not?" And told them their responses may be edited for content and clarity and used in an upcoming article in the Globe. Here are the responses we've received.

Naomi Warren: "There are obvious pros and cons of having employees work from home. Pro: working from home enables the employee the convenience of being there for their family when needed, but still able to accomplish tasks required by the employer. Working from home allows for an employee to work with less distractions depending on the kind of lifestyle and household size they might have. Working from home allows an employee to work regardless of weather or circumstances that might otherwise prevent them from working a full week. For example, if an employee is ill, running a temperature or experiencing symptoms that could be considered contagious the advantage of working at home not only benefits the employee but the employer as well to prevent the spread of this illness to others in the office. Staying home and working would allow the employee to meet a deadline that they might not otherwise complete. Staying at home would allow for an employee to work regardless of weather in case of a blizzard or severe storm.

Con: Working from home takes away the ability of the employer to monitor how an employee is interacting with others on the phone, completing tasks, exhibiting good time management skills etc. Working from home allows the employee to access TV, laundry and other venues a person may take advantage of while at home. Actually stealing time from their employer. Working from home may result in work that is not as productive due to the distractions of children, spouses or other things like personal phone calls. It is possible that an employee who is working from home might lose their work, equipment or damage equipment. Say a dog or cat decides to chew up the chord, lay on the laptop, spill a drink on a laptop. And a family member would have access to confidential information only the place of work allows for their employees to have."

Talulah Adsila Hinton: "Great idea. We need more parents at home. Maybe then kids would be more respectful and less wild."

Angela Salazar: "I would love to work from home since my hubby had a stroke and he can't be alone. We were just accepted for disability. We have three kids (5, 13 and 15) so working from home would help me from running my mind and body crazy. We are now on a huge budget because we can't afford homecare. Working from home would be a huge blessing for us."